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Inside Deep Throat By David DiCerto Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- "Inside Deep Throat" (Universal) is a serious-minded but visually explicit documentary detailing the history and legacy of the notorious porn film and the cultural and legal firestorm it ignited. Narrated by Dennis Hopper, the slickly edited film contains archival footage, interviews with its principal players (including its star, Linda Boreman -- aka Linda Lovelace -- who died penniless in 2002), as well as talking-head comments from cultural pundits like Norman Mailer, Dick Cavett, Gore Vidal, Hugh Hefner and Dr. Ruth Westheimer. The documentary also contains several hard-core clips from the X-rated movie which needn't have been used, and contribute little beyond the obvious shock value. "Deep Throat" was made in 1972 for $25,000 by hairdresser turned adult auteur Gerard Damiano. The sleazy skin flick went on to gross over $600 million, attracting A-list supporters and mainstream audiences. Directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, the documentary, while more sociocultural than salacious in tone, nevertheless tries so hard in its attempt to position its subject as a rallying point for First Amendment rights that it politely glosses over -- though doesn't completely ignore -- the film's more sordid particulars (including the facts surrounding its financing by mobsters, and Boreman's abusive relationship with then-husband Chuck Traynor), and gives short shrift to arguments that the film degraded and exploited women. Drawing cautionary parallels to today's "culture war," "Inside Deep Throat" seems to suggest that anyone who opposes pornography is somehow an enemy of freedom of expression, a view that fails to take seriously the sincere objections of those who feel that, from a moral standpoint, pornography is offensive to the sacred dignity of sex and the human person. Because of this and recurring graphic sexual images, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is NC-17 -- no one 17 or under admitted. - - - DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. END Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
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